MILLIONS of
Filipinos are set to demonstrate their filial devotion to the Immaculate Heart
of Mary in a nationwide consecration led by the Catholic hierarchy on June 8.
Catholic Bishops
Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president and Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma
said the entrustment would indeed re-affirm the Filipino people’s profound
affection on the Blessed Mother.
He said the
national consecration will show “that our country is indeed ‘pueblo amante de
Maria’—bayang sumisinta kay Maria: a people truly loving Mary the Mother
of Jesus the Lord, a people in a true sense ‘made one’ by this love and
devotion which we bear, by God’s great gift, to the Mother of God.”
Reasons for consecration
Palma, in a
pastoral exhortation, said the June 8 event is part of the celebration of the
Year of Faith and of the nine-year preparation to the 500th year of
Christianization of the Philippines which will be celebrated on 2021.
But he also
mentioned other significant reasons why there is a need for a consecration
citing social concerns and conflicts in the nation and neighboring Asian
neighbors.
Although
acknowledging some “positive gains” the country has achieved in some areas,
Palma also pointed out the “dark areas” that bring the country down.
He noted some
economic progress “under our present government’s policies and programs;
equally recognized improvements and progress in governance, in health care, in
anti-poverty and pro-education endeavors; sincere efforts at diminishing
corruption, and more.”
But “dark and
shadow areas” remain, he said, citing the “ongoing violence and conflicts in
Mindanao [as well as] the ongoing decades-old Communist-led revolutionary
movement.”
The CBCP head
also stressed the chronic lack of job opportunities at home that drives
thousands of Filipinos to seek jobs abroad, and the unabated destruction of the
environment.
The threats of
having anti-life legislations introduced in the upcoming Congress after the
passage of the Reproductive Health Bill are also another factor why there is a
need to ask the protection of the Blessed Mother, Palma said.
He also pointed
out in the statement the “manifestations of a spreading relativistic mindset in
some sectors of our society (the “dictatorship of relativism” reaching even us)
and its effects in our own changing lifestyles.”
New evangelization
The prelate said
the call for new evangelization urges the faithful “to a more authentic living
of the faith” which every Christian must take as a challenge if they are to
live truly as “God’s people” and “God’s Body in our land.”
As the nation
observes the Year of Faith and embarks on the nine-year journey towards the
celebration in 2021, invoking the guidance of the Blessed Mother by
consecrating the entire nation “offers every faithful an opportunity to
rediscover the Christian faith and intensify our efforts for a renewed integral
evangelization,” said Palma.
“This Year of
Faith, our Consecration to her Immaculate Heart, will be a firm renewal of our
unshakeable trust in her, of our filial love for her—she who is now, as ever in
our past, our Queen and our Mother of mercy—vita,
dulcedo et spes nostra: yes, of all our people, our life, our sweetness and
our hope,” he said.
The CBCP
president encouraged the faithful to continue the observance of Marian
practices, such as Mass and Communion of Reparation on the First Saturday of
each month; Prayer and Penance in union with Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart; and
the daily recitation of the Rosary, which are all part of the consecration to
the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Activities leading up to National Consecration
With a week to
go to the national event, Digos Bishop Guillermo Afable said the “ground work
on the NCIHM is really happening on the diocesan and parochial level.”
In his diocese
of Digos, he said media have been utilized to make more information widely
disseminated to the people.
“Thanks to our
active radio ministry our faithful and unfaithful have been adequately informed
and encouraged to participate. Our parishes have been active in utilizing the
Flores de Mayo program to provide the catechesis,” Afable, who heads the CBCP
Ad Hoc Committee on National Consecration, said.
He said the
NCIHM will manifest more profoundly the role of Mary in the “life of Faith” and
the deep devotion the Filipino people have for the Mother of God.
“In the context
of the Year of Faith and the nine-year era of New Evangelization, this NCIHM
brings the Marian profile of the Church as an integral component of the Renewal
of Faith of the Filipino nation,” he said.
The basic
framework, suggested activities and resource materials for the consecration
event have been prepared by the CBCP executive committee and made available for
use in dioceses.
The National
Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary will be held simultaneously in all
Cathedrals, Parish Churches, Shrines and Chapels led by the Bishops in their
respective Arch/Dioceses, Prelatures and Apostolic Vicariates, all over the
country on June 8 at 10 a.m.
